Students Say Platt College Rolled Them

DALLAS (CN) – Platt College defrauded nursing students by lying about its programs and failing to provide job placement services, 32 nursing students claim in court. Lead plaintiff Rebecca Doumain sued Platt Careers – Texas Inc. and admissions representatives Ceil Turner and Leesa Daniel in Dallas County Court. All or nearly all of the plaintiffs are women. Doumain and 31 others say the defendants told a string of lies to induce them to enroll at its Dallas campus, including that the program could be completed in 14 months, though it takes at least 17 months. “Students in defendants’ vocational nursing educational program were subject to a ‘revolving door’ of key staff members and instructors, including eight changes in the director position within a six-year period and 14 new faculty appointments in 2011 alone,” the complaint states. “The total number of full time faculty positions in 2011 was only fifteen.” The students say the school lied about placing them in small classes with one-on-one instruction. They say they were told the student-to-teacher ratio would be no greater than 1:30, but it was 1:50 or worse. They say their student handbooks stipulate they are to be provided with 1,582 hours of meaningful instruction, including 724 clinical hours. “However, classes were frequently canceled or failed to meet,” the complaint states. “Students were given credit for clinic hours that never occurred. Students were often given meaningless busy work or book work during hours supposedly dedicated to clinical instruction.” The students say they were rarely, if ever, given grade reports or feedback. They claim the defendants failed to send students’ fees for the National Council Licensure Examination in a timely manner and failed to inform students of it, delaying their exam for four months. “Defendants represented to prospective students that the vocational nursing education program would provide job placement services to students to assist them in finding employment in their chosen field of study,” the complaint states. “Plaintiffs have not even received even rudimentary placement services from defendants.” The students say their “experiences fell overwhelmingly short of their expectations,” that each “had the dream of being able to get a better paying job, and to improve their lives through education and employment.” They say while many of them ended their studies or were improperly dismissed by Platt, those who did complete the program were left with no marketable skills, while owing large student loan debts to the federal government and private lenders. “Platt College failed to live up to its legal, ethical, and moral obligations to the students,” the complaint states. In addition to its north Dallas campus, Platt operates five other schools in Oklahoma. Platt also offers culinary and Allied Heath programs at its campuses, according to its website The students seek actual and punitive damages for deceptive trade, breach of contract, fraud and negligent misrepresentation. They are represented by Jeffrey Rasansky of Dallas.